


All is Fair in Love and War

by parasolghost



Series: Hijack Week Summer 2013 [3]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (2010), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 22:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/854692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parasolghost/pseuds/parasolghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Hiccup began his first round as a spirit of autumn, he had always hoped that he would be granted just a peek at the infamous spirit of winter. Suffice to say he wasn't disappointed. To put it simply, the two didn't really meet on the best of terms. Hijack Week Day 3: Seasons</p>
            </blockquote>





	All is Fair in Love and War

            When Hiccup woke up on the first day of autumn hundreds of years ago, he was already fully informed of his role and duties. He performed them rather well, taking pride in his work as he leaped from branch to branch, his fingertips tracing the leaves and turning them various hues of yellow, orange, and red. His bare feet crunched on fallen foliage and he played with the vines of the autumn agriculture and slept in the ripe fields of wheat. Hiccup made the days darker earlier and a little bit chillier and he floated in the wind like his own fallen leaves.

            When late November came by, Hiccup began to notice the wind was picking up and he wasn’t able to float with ease anymore. He pulled his shirt collar up whenever a particularly nasty gust of wind sent shivers down his spine. He had heard about winter—he knew that, like he was a spirit of autumn, there existed a spirit of winter that followed close behind him. Hiccup had always been rather curious and secretly hoped that maybe, he could sneak a peek at this spirit of winter someday before he began moving south.

            As the last day of autumn came by, Hiccup had abandoned these hopes with a shrug, figuring that he had eternity to make contact with the spirit of winter anyway. He made his final rounds in a small forest, leaping on the branches, climbing to the top of trees and prying off the last of the leaves with nimble fingers, watching as they drifted to the ground underneath him. He watched the forgotten fruit fall off the trees and vines slowly become brittle. After a few hours of this, he stepped lightly on the grassy clearing, taking his time and looking around, admiring his handy work. He took a deep breath and stretched, closing his eyes and smelling the crisp, cold air as a particularly strong gust of wind passed him. He paid it no heed as he stepped forward. To his surprise, Hiccup’s feet met something solid and cold and, before he could even look down, his foot slid forward and he fell onto his back. His head bounced off of what seemed like a thin layer of ice, which cracked underneath him.

            “God dammit, are you kidding me?” Hiccup swore, shutting his eyes and clutching his head in his utter pain and embarrassment. He gritted his teeth and curled forward a bit, cursing the random layer of ice that appeared in front of him. His brooding was interrupted when he heard a voice right above him convulsing in laughter.

            “Oh man, that was a loud crack,” the voice said. Hiccup pried his eyelids open to see a boy with striking white hair and icy blue eyes standing over him. The other boy’s skin was deathly pale and his thin lips were pressed in an extremely amused grin. “For a guy so skinny, I didn’t expect you to have such a heavy head.”

            “Wow, I see the usual ‘are you okay’ is just much to simple for the likes of you,” Hiccup grumbled irritably, pushing himself up.

            “Aw, you’re no fun,” the boy pouted, holding out a hand to him. Hiccup glanced at the hand suspiciously, but took it nonetheless, noticing the chill that ran through his fingertips when they brushed the stranger’s palm. When Hiccup was safely on two feet, he got a better look at the stranger, who was a bit taller than Hiccup, despite the fact that he was leaning on a Sheppard’s crook, and thin, but not scrawny like Hiccup. He hated to admit it, but he found the blue-eyed boy rather attractive.

            “So you’re the new autumn spirit, huh?” the other boy said, looking up and down at Hiccup, who was automatically reminded of the way a predator inspects its prey.

            “Yes,” Hiccup answered as he brushed himself off, “and I’m guessing you’re the infamous spirit of winter?”

            “Yup, that would be me,” the spirit said with a wide grin, giving him a theatrical bow. “However, I prefer ‘Jack Frost’—master trickster and all-around charming guy.” Jack reached for Hiccup’s hand and gave it a kiss, which made Hiccup blush bright red as he yanked his hand back. Jack laughed and shot him a smile full of straight white teeth. “And you would be…?”

            “Hiccup,” Hiccup answered hastily as he glowered at the boy. “Just Hiccup, thanks.” Hiccup narrowed his eyes as his mind buzzed and put pieces together. “So ‘trickster,’ huh? So you thought it would be funny to freeze a patch of grass right in front of me?”

            Jack looked off to the side and stroked his chin contemplatively. “Well, I wouldn’t say…” Jack trailed off before erupting in laughter once again. “Ha, yeah it was pretty funny.”

            Hiccup forced himself to frown despite the fact that he found the winter spirit’s smile actually rather contagious. “Wow, hysterical,” Hiccup rolled his eyes and shoved past the boy. “I see you like to make some really great first impressions.”

            “Aw, Hiccup, it was just a joke,” Jack said, floating next to him as Hiccup refused to look him in the eye. “C’mon, Hic—let’s start over,” the white-haired boy landed in front of him and held out a hand. “Jack Frost.”

            Hiccup raised his eyebrow in suspicion as he hesitantly reached for Jack’s hand. He saw a mischievous glint in Jack’s eye and before he could pull his hand back, Jack squeezed his hand and a chill ran through Hiccup’s arm, chilling his blood and causing goosebumps to pop up all over the freckled arm. Hiccup yelped in surprise and jerked his hand away, shaking it to get rid of the numbness that Jack’s frost caused as Jack was occupied by another fit of laughter.

            “Oh, you’re going to regret that,” Hiccup snarled, trying his best to look menacing.

            “Really?” Jack smirked. “What are you gonna do about it, Leaf-boy?”

            Hiccup opened his mouth and something sparked an idea in his head, something sinister, and Hiccup loved it. “You know what,” Hiccup said, faking exasperation, “I don’t have time for this—I’m out of here.”

            “Mister Hard-Work-and-Deadlines, I see,” Jack scoffed, swinging his crook over his shoulder.

            “Oh, and you’re Mister Fun, I presume,” Hiccup said as he waited for the wind to pick up.

            “That’s me,” Jack affirmed, giving him a mocking salute. Hiccup rolled his eyes and finally caught a good hold on the wind.

            “Uh huh,” Hiccup murmured, “I’m out of here—I’ve got better things to do.” Hiccup floated into the sky and soared away.

            “See you next time, Hic,” Jack called after him as Hiccup disappeared into the clouds.

* * *

 

            Hiccup was ready this time—he was _so_ ready.

            He had been planning this for a year since his first autumn ended. He had been hoping to catch the winter spirit at the six-month mark in the southern hemisphere, but it seemed that the winter spirit had missed him. So when he was back up north, he prepared for the end of winter—he gathered his supplies and had it raining for a week before winter rolled in. On the last day of his second year of autumn, Hiccup had assembled a nice pile of leaves a few yards away from him. He sat under the shade of a tree, looking bored and inattentive. He heard the leaves rustle behind him and he smiled to himself. That was his cue.

            Hiccup got up and feigned stretching as he walked towards his beautiful trap.

            “HICCUP!!!”

            Hiccup turned as he was subsequently tackled with a surprise hug that knocked him off his feet and sent him barreling into his own trap. That would’ve been quite a pity, but Hiccup was more surprised by the embrace that brought him comforting warmth, despite the cold being that held him.

            “J-Jack?” Hiccup stuttered, blushing furiously as the winter spirit peeled himself away from the freckly, green-eyed boy. “What do you think you’re doing?”

            “Ah,” the winter spirit blushed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Well, I just haven’t seen you in the last year and I seriously lacked a cute autumn spirit to make fun of.” Jack elbowed him jovially and smirked. “I mean, we’re friends, right?”

            Hiccup rolled his eyes as he pushed the comment about his so-called “cuteness” out of his head. “I’d hardly call us ‘friends’ after that stunt you pulled last year.”

            “Aw,” Jack pouted and leaned on his Sheppard’s crook. “You’re not still mad about that, are you?”

            Hiccup raised an eyebrow incredulously. “What do you think?” Hiccup spun on his heel as he walked towards his trap. _Just a little more…_

            “Aw… Don’t be like that, Hiccup—I said I was sorry!” Jack called as he walked after him. Hiccup smiled as he approached his leaf pile and floated a bit above the leaves, making it look like he was walking.

            “Like I said before, Jack,” Hiccup sighed heavily in exasperation, “I have better things to do.”

            Jack frowned as he stepped into the pile of leaves. “Look, Hic—“ Hiccup turned just in time to see the look of incredible panic and shock on his face as Jack suddenly disappeared under the pile of leaves, which crashed into a hole of mud that Hiccup had been constructing all month.

            Jack was covered in mud and leaves and he tried to flick the mud off of his arms as he winced. Hiccup found himself convulsed in fits of laughter as he watched Jack struggle to get out of the mud.

            “You’re right—this is funny,” Hiccup said between laughs. Jack gazed up at him with a look of mixed incredulity and relief as Hiccup floated higher into the sky.

            “Now you’re getting it,” Jack said with a smirk.

            Hiccup gave the boy a mocking salute. “See you next time, Frosty!” Hiccup flew into the clouds and soared off, already looking forward to the next year.

* * *

 

            It had been over 300 years and neither of them showed any signs of stopping. Despite all the things they had both seen—despite all the catastrophes, miracles, and changes they had experienced, they consistently kept up their game of chase every time they met up.

            Of course, their first few rounds were rather innocent pranks. However, Hiccup had noted (with a shy smile and a blush) that their interactions had evolved since then as each greeting, prank, and good-bye was met with a hug, an embrace, a kiss—a peck on the cheek, nose, forehead, and, on occasions when Jack was feeling particularly daring, the lips.

            Their war of pranks became more as they would sometimes take hours to talk about the things they’ve seen and the people they’ve met and Jack would fondly tell Hiccup how much he missed him, to which Hiccup would roll his eyes and make a comment about how creepy Jack was (all with a rather silly smile on his face). As the end of this autumn approached, Hiccup was rather eager—he had not seen the winter spirit in a year because the foolish white-haired boy had probably napped down south and missed their six-month mark.

            Hiccup hopped around on the branches, watching the leaves flutter underneath him as he awaited the voice that called to him almost every six months. He frowned. Jack was late this time, at this rate—

            “Hiccup!”

            There we are.

            Hiccup turned to see the winter spirit standing on a branch in a tree behind him, gazing at him with relief and glee. Hiccup smirked and snapped his fingers and watched Jack’s expression drop as the branch snapped underneath him. He had to admit, Hiccup had gotten quite good with this.

            Jack landed in a soft pile of leaves and looked up at Hiccup, who waved at him with an impish grin.

            “Try and catch me, Snowflake!” Hiccup called as he leapt into another tree, bouncing higher and higher as Jack jumped after him. Hiccup laughed as he released the last of the leaves from their branches, deterring Jack just slightly in his mission. When Hiccup reached the top of a tree, the wind picked up and he flew deeper into the forest, fully expecting Jack to follow him. After all, the spirit of winter had been following him for centuries, why would he stop now?

            Hiccup mused for a bit in his flying and shrugged. It had been a competition after all… Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if he… Hiccup looked up and watched as the clouds conformed to his will. They darkened and grew heavy with precipitation and raindrops began to shower lightly on the two. Hiccup laughed as he spun around in the rain, reveling in its coolness as his bangs began to fall damp in front of his eyes.

            Eventually, Hiccup grew tired and landed, panting heavily as he looked up at the sky, expecting Jack to follow suit. When Jack seemed to be nowhere in sight, Hiccup frowned in worry. He knew Jack couldn’t have gotten lost—they had been around this forest several times and that would have been ridiculous. The possibility that Jack got hurt crossed his mind, but Hiccup would have heard him or seen if something had happened.

            Hiccup’s heart sunk. It couldn’t have been that Jack had finally gotten sick of their war, could it? Surely not the master trickster?

            “Jack?” Hiccup called tentatively into the trees. When he received no answer, he felt utterly heartbroken. Had he really pushed the blue-eyed spirit too far? He sighed and pushed his heavy brown bangs out of his eyes. _Well_ , Hiccup thought bitterly _, it was bound to happen at some point._

            “HICCUUUUP!!!”

            Hiccup turned toward the voice and he was tackled to the ground by the white-haired boy, who was also completely soaked by Hiccup’s onslaught of autumn showers. Hiccup’s heart soared as Jack wrapped him into a tight embrace and Hiccup reached up to return the gesture with some difficulty, considering the fact that Jack had pinned him on the ground.

            “Did you miss me?” Jack asked as he brought his forehead to meet Hiccup’s.

            The autumn spirit laughed and wrapped his arms around the other boy’s neck. “Who’d miss a moron like you?” Hiccup teased. Jack smiled and began showering kisses all over Hiccup’s face, tracing his freckles, his hands at either side of the other boy’s head, his lips cold as he pressed them against the spirit of autumn’s warm cheeks.

            “Jack,” Hiccup laughed as Jack placed a kiss on his nose. “Jack, we need to get up.”

            “No,” Jack said stubbornly. Hiccup laughed and pushed the boy up, interrupting his plethora of kisses. The two stood in front of each other, surrounded by the autumn foliage, panting as the rain began to stop.

            “You’re late,” Hiccup finally said when they had both caught their breaths. Hiccup raised an eyebrow when he saw Jack wince.

            “Yeah, I had to fly over from the South Pole,” Jack said, scratching his neck. “I had a score to settle with a couple of penguins.”

            “Was your penguin feud more important than our little prank battle?” Hiccup scolded with a pout.

            Jack smiled and brought his lips to Hiccup’s forehead. “Of course not,” he said quietly. Jack pressed their foreheads together. “I’ve been dying to see you all year.”

            Hiccup snorted at the irony of Jack’s comment. “Spirits can’t die,” Hiccup retorted.

            “You know what I mean,” Jack breathed as he wrapped his arms around Hiccup’s thin waist.

            Hiccup chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Jack’s neck. “I missed you, too,” Hiccup whispered.

            They pressed their lips together softly, Hiccup closing his eyes slowly as he reveled in Jack’s chapped and comfortingly cold lips. Hiccup felt his heart glowing and accelerating as everything around them seemed to become still. He whimpered as Jack sighed into his mouth, his breath surprisingly warm for someone who spent a majority of his time being so cold. Hiccup felt a shiver of pleasure as Jack’s hand moved up to his back and pressed the autumn spirit’s tiny frame against him. Hiccup trailed his hand along Jack’s neck until they ran across his shoulders.

Something suddenly beeped in the back of Hiccup’s brain. An alarm, an internal instinct, told spirits when they were to leave their territory to bring their respective seasons elsewhere. Hiccup squeezed his eyelids shut tighter. He never wanted this to end. He didn’t think he could take waiting up to a whole year for a few measly hours with his dear winter spirit any longer. Yet, he knew he would again—just as he did for the past three hundred years. He’d wait a thousand years just to see Jack again.

Hiccup placed his hands on the white-haired boy’s frozen cheeks and reluctantly parted their lips. Jack whined and leaned in for more. Hiccup grinned and placed his hand on Jack’s chest.

“Slow down there, Snowflake,” Hiccup breathed as he looked up at Jack wistfully.

            “You have to go don’t you?” Jack whispered, disappointment evident in his voice. He closed his eyes sadly when Hiccup nodded. He laid a last kiss on Hiccup’s lips. “I love you, Hic.”

            “I love you, too, Frosty,” Hiccup said, He took one of Jack’s hands form his sides and pressed his lips against the frozen knuckles. “Don’t be late next time, okay? I’ve got big plans for us.”

            Jack smirked as Hiccup let go of his hands. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

            Hiccup soared into the sky, shaking his head as Jack blew a kiss up at him. The spirit of autumn flew past the top of the trees, looking back for just a split second before flying at full speed. After all, he had so many ideas to prepare for next time.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, well that was a LOT longer than the other two prompts whoops. But hey, I actually really enjoyed writing this one because I love the seasons AU. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it hehehe u v u


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